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History of America's war on drugs

1971 -- President Richard Nixon officially declares a "war on drugs," coining the term at a press conference on drug abuse in June 1971.

1973 -- The Drug Enforcement Administration is established by Nixon to handle all aspects of the nation's drug problem.

1975 -- Colombian police seize 600 kilos of cocaine from a small plane at the Cali airport -- the largest cocaine seizure to date. In response, drug traffickers begin a vendetta called the "Medellin Massacre," killing 43 people in Medellin in one weekend. The event signals the new power of Colombia's cocaine industry, headquartered in Medellin.

1976 -- Presidential candidate Jimmy Carter campaigns on the decriminalization of marijuana and ending federal criminal penalties for possession of up to 1 ounce of the drug.

1986 -- The death of promising college basketball star Len Bias from a cocaine overdose stuns the nation. Ensuing media reports highlight the health risks of cocaine, and drugs become a hot political issue.

1986 -- President Ronald Reagan signs The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, which appropriates $1.7 billion to fight the drug crisis.The bill's most consequential action is the creation ofmandatory minimumpenalties for drug offenses.

1993 -- Drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, in hiding since mid-1992, is found by Colombian police using American technology that can recognize his voice on a cellphone call and estimate his location. He tries to flee but is killed.

1995 -- The U.S. Sentencing Commission releases a report that acknowledges the racial disparities for prison sentencing for cocaine versus crack. The commission suggests reducing the discrepancy, but Congress overrides its recommendation for the first time in history.

1996 -- California becomes the first state to legalize medical marijuana. Since then, 17 states and the District of Columbia have followed suit. Colorado and Washington have decriminalized the drug entirely.

2000 -- President Bill Clinton gives $1.3 billion in aid to Plan Colombia, an effort to decrease the amount of cocaine produced in that nation.

2009 -- In a major shift in policy, President Barack Obama's drug czarsays he wants to banish the idea that the U.S. is fighting "a war on drugs" and favors treatment over incarceration in trying to reduce illicit drug use.

2011 -- The Global Commission on Drug Policy releases a groundbreaking report claiming "the global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world." The report is generally panned by organizations that oppose drug legalization.

2013: Attorney General Eric Holder announces that the Justice Department will no longer pursue mandatory minimum sentences for "certain low-level, nonviolent drug offenders." The move could mark the end of the tough-on-crime era, which began with strict anti-drug laws in the 1970s and accelerated with mandatory minimum prison sentences and so-called three-strikes laws.

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